Aviation minister directs Biman to talk to Boeing on Dreamliner technical issues
Biman's managing director and CEO said Biman was in constant communication with Boeing on technical and maintenance issues
Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Muhammad Faruk Khan has directed Biman to talk to the Boeing company about the technical issues raised by a whistleblower regarding the Dreamliner-787 model aircraft.
During a telephone conversation with Biman's Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Shafiul Azim yesterday, he said since the Dreamliner aircraft in the fleet of Biman Bangladesh Airlines are new, there is nothing to worry regarding the technical issues.
He, however, said the issue needs to be clarified after discussion with an eye towards the future and in the interest of ensuring passenger safety.
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Biman's MD said the national flag carrier is in constant communication with Boeing on technical and maintenance issues and he would give more details on this soon, according to a press release sent by the civil aviation ministry.
At present, the total number of aircraft in the fleet is 21. Of these, four are Boeing 777-300 ER, four are Boeing 787-8, two are Boeing 787-9, six are Boeing 737 and five are Dash 8-400 aircraft.
The whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, who has worked at Boeing for more than a decade, last week alleged that the company dismissed safety concerns about the assembly of its 787 and 777 jets that fly international routes.
Salehpour, a veteran quality engineer, said that Boeing failed to adequately shim, or use a thin piece of material to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product, an omission that could cause premature fatigue failure over time in some areas of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
Hundreds of people could lose their lives if Boeing fails to address quality issues, he said.
His claims, which are being investigated by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), include the remark that he saw workers "jumping on the pieces of the aeroplane to get them to align."
Boeing last Monday scrambled to address safety and quality concerns about its planes ahead of Salehpour's hearing in the US Senate on Wednesday.
Boeing's safety culture and manufacturing quality, both at the centre of a corporate crisis following a January mid-air panel blowout on a near-new 737 MAX 9, were scrutinised in two senate hearings on Wednesday, report Reuters.
Testimony at the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations raised questions about Boeing's treatment of whistleblowers, records surrounding the blown-out door plug on the Alaska Airlines narrowbody jet and production concerns over two separate widebody jets.
Boeing has faced more than five years of questions about the safety and quality of its commercial jets following two fatal crashes of a different model, the 737 Max, in 2018 and 2019. Those crashes killed 346 people and led to a 20-month grounding of that jet.
It came under renewed scrutiny earlier this year after a door plug blew out on an 737 Max flight by Alaska Airlines on 5 January, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the jet.
That has sparked investigations and allegations that some Boeing employees felt reluctant to raise questions about the safety of the planes they are building or inspecting for fear of retaliation.
